The Togo government confirmed last week a Lassa fever case reported in Doufelgou district in the north of the country, according to a Agence de Press Africaine report (computer translated).
This was a hemorrhagic fever case according to officials.
Lassa fever is a rare but potentially life-threatening viral hemorrhagic disease. The risk of contamination is low, but can occur if someone comes into contact with an infected person’s blood or bodily fluids. Lassa Fever cannot be spread through casual contact, including skin to skin contact, without exchange of bodily fluids. Those at highest-risk would be health care workers treating patients in facilities known to have Lassa Fever and family members caring for infected patients.
Early diagnosis and supportive care are essential. You should consult a medical professional if you have been in direct contact with an infected person within the past three weeks and have symptoms of Lassa fever, which include: fever, chest, stomach or back pain, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, or mucosal bleeding.
- Vaccines: Valneva announces positive Phase 1 interim results for Chikungunya vaccine candidate
- Poland reports a 5-fold increase in measles in 2018
- Measles case confirmed in Vancouver, Washington
- Infectious disease bric-a-bracs: Monkey fever, Elections in DRC and Ebola
- Rochester measles case, Rockland County cases top 100
- Measles: NSW Health warns of 3rd case
- Leishmaniasis outbreak in northwest Libya town
- Portugal reports three ‘distinct’ measles outbreaks
